Review article discussing the public and private benefits from higher education, and why this debate is at the heart of much of higher education policy consideration. This is an electronic version of an article published in Temple, Paul (2007) Review Essay: Public and private benefits in the "new" higher education. Journal of Education Policy, 22 (2). pp. 261-267. Journal of Education Policy is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/02680930601159024